A guide loop is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,070. A cladding part, in the form of a cap is placed on the body of the redirecting element. It includes, at its top end a wall section which extends over a shoulder formed on the top end of the body and holds the cladding part on the body by means of an interference or form fit. Opposite the wall section a bar is located on the cladding part, that is pushed into a slit of the body next to the belt guide slit. A disadvantage of this known redirecting element is that the interference or form fit between the wall section and shoulder requires precision processing of the parts, and the location of the bar makes providing any additional slits near the belt guide slit difficult.
A guide loop is also described in DE 202 05 570 U1. In order to cover a metal body, which carries the belt load and is anchored to the vehicle, a cladding part is provided so that no metal areas can be seen. In the embodiment described in DE 202 05 570 U, the cladding consists of two side parts manufactured of plastic, which are each pushed onto the metal body from the side and are held together at the point where they contact one another by connectors. In addition, a displacement body which covers an area of the metal body designed to receive a fixing eye is also coupled to the metal body. This guide loop has the disadvantage that the two separate parts needed to form the cladding part are manufactured and mounted separately, and the mounting operation requires additional connectors with the displacement body. As above, this requires precise manufacturing to maintain the fit, not only of the individual components of the cladding part, but also of the metal body so that the connectors fit when the redirecting element is mounted to, for example, a vehicle pillar.
The present invention is based on the need to simplify the manufacture and mounting of a guide loop and reducing the parts count while still providing the characteristics described above.